Pocognoli era opens with goalless stalemate in Slovenia but second-half surge offers Scotland hope

Sebastien Pocognoli's first game as Scotland head coach ended in a 0-0 Nations League draw against Slovenia in Ljubljana — a tale of two halves that began turgidly but finished with the visitors utterly dominant and desperately unfortunate not to win.

A first half to forget

For 45 minutes, Scotland were disjointed and devoid of the front-foot pressing, high intensity and goal threat Pocognoli had laid out as his non-negotiables. They failed to register a shot on target, lost aerial duels at an alarming rate and took 38 minutes to touch the ball in Slovenia's penalty area. The hosts, missing Benjamin Sesko and a shot-shy side themselves, should have punished the passive, directionless visitors — Andraz Sporar had the ball in the net early on only for an offside flag, before missing a golden chance from six yards, and Aljosa Matko shanked wide of Angus Gunn's goal.

Robbie Ure, making his international debut in a surprise front two alongside the returning Oli McBurnie, clipped the outside of the post from 20 yards, but that was as close as Scotland came before the break.

'Two games in one game'

Whatever Pocognoli said at half-time worked. Dropping McBurnie deeper behind Ure — and later Kieron Bowie — and asking Billy Gilmour to sit lower in midfield, where he had time to dictate, brought Scotland alive in what the head coach aptly called "two games in one game".

McBurnie, back after 2,005 days in the international wilderness, created a one-on-one with Jan Oblak six minutes after the restart but opted for the flourish, trying to round the goalkeeper rather than finish — Oblak stretched while grounded to pinch the ball from his feet. "I'm not going to be able to sleep thinking about those chances," the striker admitted, still without a goal in 17 Scotland appearances.

The chances kept coming: Gilmour forced a save after a one-two with McBurnie, Aaron Hickey headed just wide, Bowie had three opportunities in eight minutes after coming on — including a howler of a miss 12 minutes from time after being played in by Gilmour — and Oblak tipped a powerful McBurnie header over. Oblak was, by a distance, Slovenia's best player.

All 10 of Scotland's starting outfield players had a shot on goal for the first time since June 2022 against Armenia, and their 17 attempts were their most in a competitive match in more than 14 years. The flip side: Scotland have now failed to score in three tournament games in a row for the first time in almost 22 years — a failing that also haunted the Steve Clarke era, which ended with the head coach's resignation after a meek World Cup exit to Brazil 94 days earlier.

Tactical acumen on show

Pocognoli, sampling international management for the first time at 39, was heartened by the response. "The feeling in the dressing room is positive because of the second half," he said. "We should have scored but I am very happy with the general performance of the strikers. It was only the last details we missed."

His willingness to start two strikers signalled attacking intent, and his ability to identify and fix problems at the interval offered early evidence of the tactical acumen that made him an intriguing appointment.

Switzerland await at Hampden

Next up is Pocognoli's Hampden Park bow against Switzerland on Tuesday night. Murat Yakin's side, ranked 14th in the world and settled if missing some key operators, will be a fascinating examination of the new coach's prowess. Win, and it will feel like lift-off time for the new era.